Cellphones without chargers? Brazil judge fines Apple $20M over chargerless iPhones

BRASILIA, Brazil - A Brazilian judge fined Apple $20 million Thursday for selling iPhones without chargers, calling it an "abusive practice" that forces customers to buy an additional product.

The decision, which can be appealed, came after Brazil's justice ministry slapped a separate fine of nearly $2.5 million on Apple in September over the same issue and barred the US tech giant from selling its iPhone 12 and 13 models without chargers.

The new fine -- 100 million reais -- was awarded by a Sao Paulo civil court judge as damages in a lawsuit filed by the Brazilian Consumers' Association.

Apple stopped including outlet chargers with new iPhones in October 2020, saying it wanted to help reduce electronics waste.

But the move effectively "requires consumers to purchase a second product in order for the first to work," Judge Caramuru Afonso Francisco wrote in his ruling.

He ordered the California company to supply chargers to all consumers in Brazil who bought iPhone models 12 or 13 in the past two years, and begin including them with all new purchases.

Apple is also facing charger-related headaches across the pond.

Last week, the European Parliament passed a law requiring all smartphones, tablets and cameras to use USB-C ports as the single charger standard from late 2024, which will force Apple to change its phone designs.

Agence France-Presse

Apple, in rare reversal, pulls plug on wireless charging mat

Apple Inc on Friday said it is canceling the AirPower wireless charging mat that the company announced in 2017 on the same day as its iPhone X, a rare public retreat for the gadget maker known for splashy product launches.

The mat was intended to wirelessly charge up to 3 Apple products at once, such as an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods wireless headphones.

While wireless charging has spread through the gadget industry, charging 3 devices at once with higher wattage "fast charging" has proved challenging. Furniture seller Ikea, for example, sells a $60 matt that can handle 3 phones but it only features slower 5-watt charging.

In a statement, Apple said that it had concluded that its AirPower mat "will not achieve our high standards."

"We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch," Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, said in the statement. "We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward."

The announcement was a rare move for Apple, known in the electronics industry for keeping tight wraps on product plans until it publicly launches them at splashy events in Silicon Valley. 

The early announcement of AirPower, along with a wirelessly charged version of its AirPods headphones, was a break in that tradition. Apple released the updated AirPods last week, heightening speculation that the accompanying charging mat would come soon.

Daring Fireball, a website that covers Apple news, previously reported that Apple engineers had issues with devices overheating on the AirPower pad. Apple declined to comment beyond its statement on the project.

Apple offered wireless charging in the iPhone in 2017, after many of its rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd had offered the feature for several years. While rumors circulated that Apple might create its own unique wireless charging technology, the company instead chose to use a system that works with Qi, an open industry standard already in use by Samsung and others.

Apple shares did not move on the news, and shares of NXP Semiconductors and STMicroelectronics, 2 major suppliers of chips used in Qi systems, appeared to be unaffected also.

source: news.abs-cbn.com